Services

Goodison a no-go for Moyes

David Moyes admits he has been unable to go back to Goodison Park on scouting missions ever since he left Everton to join Manchester United.

Moyes will sit in the away dugout at Goodison Park for the first time on Sunday when he takes Manchester United to the club where he spent 11 years as manager.

The last time Moyes set foot inside the stadium was in May last year when he bade an emotional farewell to 40,000 Evertonians following his final game in charge.

Those Everton fans started to turn against Moyes later that summer when he failed with a £28million bid for Leighton Baines and Marouane Fellaini - an offer the Merseyside club branded "insulting" and "derisory".

Everton fans booed Moyes when they visited Old Trafford in December, and the feeling of resentment towards the Scot has been so strong that he has been unwilling to return to the club ever since his departure.

"I went to see Everton (play) last Saturday at Sunderland, but I've not been back to Goodison this season," said Moyes, who regularly attends matches to scout opposition players and potential transfer targets.

"It's nearly a year since I left.

"I've just felt that it wasn't the right time to go back at this moment in time.

"Time is a big healer.

"I think there was animosity at the way we would have liked to have bought a couple of the players. But some Manchester United players go to Everton, so there is reverse."

United ended up buying Fellaini for £27.5million but Baines committed his future to Everton.

Moyes feels some Everton fans are also angry with him as they do not believe the sequence of events that led up to him being appointed United boss.

Some think Moyes stalled on signing a new deal at Everton as he knew Sir Alex Ferguson would retire at the end of last season.

Moyes insists that was not the case, but he concedes some Everton supporters do not believe him.

"What needs healing, possibly, is the way people saw me leaving," Moyes added.

"Maybe people don't believe how it happened.

"But it is exactly how it came about. It happened two weeks before the end of the season.

"I had been there for 11 years. You'd have to say it couldn't have been done much better."

While Moyes has struggled in his first season at United, his successor at Goodison Park has been a resounding success.

Everton are just one point behind fourth-place Arsenal and they would have gone into Sunday's game inside the Champions League places had they not lost to Crystal Palace in midweek.

Moyes has been impressed by the job Roberto Martinez has done, but he reminded the Everton faithful that he also brought good times to Goodison Park.

"I think it's great credit to Roberto but there was a group of players there who were always capable of improving, getting better and moving further up the league," he said.

"You have to remember that Everton finished above Liverpool for the last two years and got into the Champions League (qualifying stages in 2005).

"Hopefully in time everyone will look at (my time there) and say it was a really good time in Everton's history."

Ipsoregulated

This website and associated newspapers adhere to the Independent Press Standards Organisation's Editors' Code of Practice. If you have a complaint about the editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then please contact the editor here. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can contact IPSO here